Come out and acquire great art or join the Old Town Portal Market! The Old Town Portal Market Program (“Portal Market”) functions to allow local artists to sell items on the sidewalk in Old Town Plaza (a busy tourist hub) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many Native American artists use this venue to sell their wares and make up the majority of permit holders in the Portal Market; like Alvin Todacheene, a skilled Navajo jeweler and vendor in the Portal Market Program. Alvin Todacheene’s beautiful bracelet featured above is just one example of amazing Navajo art that is sold through the Portal Market.

This venue is an excellent opportunity to sell traditional or contemporary small artwork, pottery and jewelry because the artist gets to keep one hundred percent of the profits while not having to finance a costly brick and mortar store. The disadvantage of selling artwork in non-collective galleries is that the gallery typically takes about fifty percent of every artwork sale. Less overhead and more profits make the Portal Market an ideal place to sell small handcrafted items at a reasonable price. When artists do not have to worry about paying fifty percent to a gallery this means the price can be set lower and makes the work easier to sell. Lower cost artwork is also more accessible to potential collectors without a lot of money.

There are fifty vendors in the program at any given time. To become a vendor through this program fill out and submit the form here to be put on the waiting list for the current year or submit the form by May 15 for the next year. A visit to the vendor’s studio, an orientation meeting, a twenty-five dollar fee and a gross receipts tax id number are necessary for new vendors to apply. The form should also be submitted in person to the City Planning Cashier Office. Once accepted the permits for the year only cost one hundred dollars. Selling dates for individual vendors are then determined by a lottery system every week.